Writing this last blog in the series has been on my "to do" list, but I admit that I haven't felt much motivation to do it. And then I realized that considering some of the stuff I was planning to put up here, it likely would not get any easier. So I should get crackalacking.
The first part of this post, I'm just going to point out how it seems to me that Colton's vision of heaven is not consistent with the Bible. I'm not saying it contradicts the Bible. I'm saying it's not consistent with Scripture. There is a difference, and I recognize that some people feel that contradiction is the standard for rejecting personal revelation. I would say that something that seems inconsistent with Scripture would be something I'd have a lot of trouble recognizing as a revelation of any kind. I respect that Todd Burpo has tried to prove that Colton's dream was consistent with Scripture. If you have read the book, then you have read his point of view. And now I tell you the problems I have with it. And you can be the judge.
And then me state again that I find it a fearful thing to have to say that a very nice family with a very nice story contains elements that are "off." I realize that if I say that Colton's vision does not line up with the Bible, that people are going to be wondering what that vision was. And that turning to other explanations for it... well, some those explanations might not be nice ones. I didn't enjoy that aspect of my critique. I'll set that part of it aside for later, and just show you what I see. You are fully free to disagree.
First and foremost, Colton's vision of heaven just seems to smack of a three or four year old idea of heaven. It is actually, once you get down to the brass tacks of it... pretty mundane... That is a generalization. Here is a list of the things I find troubling, unsupported by Scripture, and make me vaguely uneasy taking this as an actual vision of heaven:
1. Jesus has a rainbow-coloured horse.
2. Jesus gives Colton "homework" and helps him with it.
3. The Holy Spirit is up there in a visible manifestation and is simply... "blue."
4. There is a throne to the left and the right of God's throne and Gabriel the angel sits on the left side...
5. Human beings in heaven have wings...
6. A baby that died in utero and went to heaven appears to have been "growing up" in heaven ever since...??
7. That same little girl still does not have a name... because she is waiting for her parents to get to heaven to name her.
8. There is no mention or description of any of the heavenly beings that others have seen in heaven. (cross-references included later)
9. Colton appears to have also seen Satan, though the angels must keep him out of heaven with swords...?
Let me go through some of these with a bit of explanation, and keep in mind that I am not saying that these things directly contradict Scripture, but that to me, they just don't match up with other visions of heaven. I'm not going to comment on every one, because that would be too long. And besides, you are smart. You do the homework, and see if you agree with me, or think I'm "off" myself.
#1. Jesus may have a rainbow horse. The Bible never says he doesn't have one. But when Christ is described on a horse, it is a white horse. Maybe the rainbow horse is just for fun, I don't know, but it seems less heavenly, and more 3 yr old-ish.
#3. A visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which was simply "blue." Again, I can't say this is contradicted in the Bible. The Bible never mentions the Holy Spirit being like anything but : a tongue of fire (or some form of fire), a rushing wind, a white dove. Did I miss anything? Anyway, this description just feels a bit "off" to me, you might say.
#5. The wings. I'm going to spend a bit of time on this one. It needs some explanation. I think it is one of the "biggies" here, odd as that may seem. At first glance, you might say "Couldn't we have wings in heaven?" O.K... So here are a coupla problems I see with that. The disciples never mention seeing any wings on Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration... ? Human beings are never mentioned with wings in heaven. You might say we will be like the angels in heaven, but then I'd have to point out that THAT verse says we are not like them in MARITAL STATUS.
Further more, when Jesus talks about that, He is actually speaking of the resurrection. Which is sort of another problem. What does it mean to say that people have wings in heaven, or for that matter that they look like themselves, but a younger version? Because in heaven, we have not yet received our resurrection body, right? According to 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff, the resurrection where we get a physical body (which is like Jesus' body, not like the angels) is not until all Christians are caught up to be with Jesus. And I'm still here.
I'm not saying that when Moses and Elijah appear on the Mount, they don't have an appearance of a body. I'm saying "What do I do with those wings? Are they permanent? Do they have some sort of 'spiritual' meaning? Are they of a practical nature?" No, I realize that heaven is mysterious, and there are lots of spiritual mysteries I don't yet understand. I'm just saying that the "wings" part of Colton's vision seems mysterious, but not in the same way. It doesn't seem like the Burpos believe Colton's vision is "symbolic," yet there are these wings. I don't know what to do with them, do you?
At no point in Revelation are the saints every mentioned as having wings. John describes some pretty strange sights, but he leaves any mention of wings on humans totally out of the picture.
Not even all "angels" (which really is the word for "messenger") have wings. In fact, most are not mentioned with wings. There are heavenly beings with wings, and we call them angels. There are the cherubim on the Ark, which have wings and may have had bodies like lions. Then if you really want to see a biblical vision of heaven, you can read Ezekiel chapter one. It will kinda blow your mind, by which I mean that you may see why I say Colton's vision was "mundane." There are more about these heavenly creatures in Ezekiel chapter 10, where they are also called cherubim. And you can find more very interesting beings, these ones with SIX wings, in Isaiah chapter 6. You can cross reference those visions with Revelation chapter 4:6ff.
Other than the rainbow colours and the throne of God... I'm not sure that anything from Colton's vision really matches up with these biblical visions... does it? Here is an example of Ezekiel's description of the throne of God (in case you are too lazy to check it out yourself ;) )
"...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around... Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."
Am I missing something big here? I'm not talking about detail. Yes, both have a throne, and yes both talk about rainbows. I'm talking about the "atmosphere" if you will. Ezekiel doesn't even say "there was a throne." He says "there was a likeness of a throne." It is so hard for him to explain it using earthly words that he says ""the appearance of the likeness" of God's glory. Do you get the sense that Ezekiel is struggling to convey what he saw without giving you the wrong idea, because there are no accurate words for the reality of it? The sense that heaven might be pretty different from earth? The sense of the holy, the sacred, the mysterious? Awe, and wonder.? That sort of thing...
Then, once again, I'm going to mention the argument from silence in the Bible. Yes, an argument from silence is only an argument from silence. Still... you be the judge. Lazarus was dead for 4 days, Jairus' daughter was dead for some amount of time, and Dorcas as well, just as some examples of people who might have been "in heaven." At no point does Scripture related any of their experiences... and that's not to mention Paul's vision of heaven which he was not allowed to write about.
I realize that the Burpos don't actually claim Colton came back from the dead, but rather that he had a vision of heaven. My point is, what he relates does not correspond with biblical visions. And neither does it correspond with "back from the dead" stories from the Bible, because none of those people seem to have written any memoirs about it. I think that is a bit telling.
Then there is a very interesting story that Jesus tells about the Rich Man and Lazarus. (not the same Lazarus as the one who is resurrected. We actually don't know if this story is a parable, or an actual event, but either way, it speaks here) In this story the rich man wishes that Lazarus would be allowed to go back and warn his five brothers about hell, and that they might end up there. What did Jesus say to them? "If they do not hear Moses and the other prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." (Luke 16:31)
I find that interesting. It's in the Bible, so you might say I'm predisposed to believe it is true.
Let me get personal here. When I was told about the book, I did think about reading it. You might say that when I came across the book in the local book store, I was tempted to buy it... You might say that I was susceptible to that sort of temptation, because I had just recently released my own sweet baby into a place I had never seen based on a trust I had in God and who He is, with no "concrete" evidence, other than what I could find in the Bible. You might say it, because it is the truth.
But I thought about what I was saying in buying the book. What was I saying to God...?? "God, I believe the Bible is Your Word, and I trust You. But I still just would like something to make me feel a bit more sure..." I'm not saying that is what YOU were saying in your heart when you bought/read the book. I'm saying, that was MY temptation.
And I realized something. Faith IS an action. And actions ARE faith. I said in my heart "Am I going to need this book? DO I NEED THIS BOOK?" And I realized that no, I was going to leave the book on the shelf. And in that moment, I had more faith than I had ever had, that God had Joel in a very good place, waiting for me. I'm not saying that cured every moment of doubt. No. But faith is what we do. If you want to have faith, you must act on what you trust in. And that moment of walking away from the book was a big moment of affirmation of belief for me. I realized because I could walk away, that I did believe. And I could continue to believe, because I did walk away.
And I'm writing this to encourage you not to throw away a precious, precious promise. When Thomas had to see Jesus' wounds on His resurrected body in order to believe, Jesus said "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." That is a promise I'm holding onto. I don't want to throw those precious words away. And I don't want you to either. We have never seen Christ resurrected and standing before us as proof. But we believe. Heaven IS for real. We don't really need Colton's word to believe it, do we? I choose the blessing. I choose the blessing.
Finally, for those who just really want to know what explanation I have for Colton's vision, I'm going to say that after reading the book, I felt that most of the things could have a natural explanation. And that is the explanation I'd like to believe, because the other choices would not be as nice. I believe the Burpo's are sincere. I think they might have had a predisposition to believe in visions like this. I think that it is possible that the sickness Colton had, coupled with surgery medications, etc. might have given him some pretty vivid dreams. I know this can happen from my own experience with my father when he was very ill for many days and had surgery. He never shared a vision of heaven, no. But he had some confused ideas, and, for example, he really thought he had been taken from hospital to hospital all through his home province, even days after the meds wore off and his fever was gone.
I just don't have time to go into all the details, but for example, the Burpos maintain that Colton couldnt' have known about the baby they lost. They are honest enough, though to admit they told their oldest child. And I kinda think, from what I know about children, that could explain how Colton knew. Most of the details about heaven are ones that Colton really could have picked up, as a child in a pastor's home, from adult conversations around him, from church sermons, etc. I know my my own son that he has picked up stuff that baffles and bewilders me. I ask him many times "Where did you hear that?" And I usually never find out.
I think the Burpos are well intentioned, I think they truly believe that their son had a vision of heaven, and I think that they didn't see any harm in sharing their story. I believe they hoped it would be encouraging. But I think they really were open to hearing about an experience like that and when Colton shared a child's dream about heaven brought on by fever, illness, and surgery, they sort of took it and ran with it. If anyone would like to ask me any questions about my explanation, please feel free to comment on this blog. I admit that I might have made a mistake or missed something. Which is why I wrote #2 blog first. My main concern with their story is the impact it has on personal versus general revelation and the Bible. My thoughts on why I don't believe the vision is from God are secondary to that concern and I don't feel as passionate about convincing you on that. I just want us all to be very careful about what we believe is God's word.
If you are still reading, then thanks for slogging through this. I hope, in the least, that I have provided food for thought. And that maybe, just maybe, I have encouraged you to go to God's word and hang on to the promises there.
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